An image reading device includes a light source; a light guiding member; an imaging optical system that reflects the light, which faces a first direction from the object, in a second direction intersecting the first direction by a reflective plane disposed in the first direction of the object, that makes the light, which is reflected by the reflective plane, converge toward the second direction by an emission portion disposed in the second direction of the reflective plane, and that images an erect equal-magnification image of the object in the second direction of the emission portion; and an optical sensor that is disposed in the second direction of the emission portion of the imaging optical system, and detects the erect equal-magnification image that is imaged by the imaging optical system, in which the light guiding member is disposed at an object side of the emission portion in the first direction.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A surface reading device for reading an image on a target-surface, comprising: a light source adjacent an optical sensor; a separator structure bisecting a space between the light source and optical sensor to isolate the light source from the optical sensor, the separator structure having a first surface defining a first side, and having a second surface defining a second side, said second side being opposite said first side, the light source being on the first side and the optical sensor being on the second side; a first light guide on the first side of the separator structure, the first light guide having a first light-incident end facing the light source, a first light-emission end angled toward the target surface to emit light toward the target surface at an acute angle relative to the target surface, and a first light-channel to convey light from its first light-incident end to its first light-emission end; a first aperture facing the target surface and positioned to receive reflected light emitted from the first light-emission end of the first light guide and reflected from the target surface, the first aperture passing the reflected light from the first side of the separator structure to the second side of the separator structure; a second light guide on the second side of the separator structure, the second light guide having a second light-incident end facing the first aperture to receive the reflected light passed by the first aperture, a second light-emission end facing the optical sensor, and a second light-channel to convey light from its second light-incident end to its second light-emission end, wherein the second light guide provides the optical sensor an erect image of the image on the target-surface.
2. The surface reading device of claim 1 , wherein the light source and optical sensor are coplanar.
3. The surface reading device of claim 2 , wherein light source and optical sensor are on a common printed circuit substrate.
4. The surface reading device of claim 1 , wherein said separator structure separates and optically isolates the first light guide from the second light guide.
5. The surface reading device of claim 1 , wherein the first light guide is immediately adjacent the first surface of the separator structure, and the second light guide is immediately adjacent the second surface of the separator structure.
6. The surface reading device of claim 5 , wherein the first light guide is on the first surface of the separator structure.
7. The surface reading device of claim 5 , wherein said first light guide and said second light guide are coplanar.
8. The surface reading device of claim 7 , wherein the plane defined by the first light guide and second light guide intersects at a right angle the first surface of the separator structure.
9. The surface reading device of claim 1 , wherein said second light guide has an incident-lens on it's second incident-light end, said incident-lens being convex toward the first aperture, and has an emission-lens on its light-emission end, said emission-lens being convex toward the optical sensor.
10. The surface reading device of claim 9 , wherein: the second light guide has a bend so that the incident-lens has a common central axis with the central axis of a hole-open of the first aperture, and the emission-lens has a common central axis with a central axis of the optical sensor.
11. The surface reading device of claim 10 , wherein outer perimeter of the bend of the second light guide has a reflective coating to reflect light from the incident-lens toward the emission-lens.
12. The surface reading device of claim 9 , further having a second aperture between the emission-lens of the second light guide and the optical sensor to pass light from the emission-lens to the optical sensor.
13. The surface reading device of claim 9 , wherein the incident-lens, the emission-lens and the second light guide are integrally formed of a transparent medium.
14. The surface reading device of claim 1 , wherein said first light guide and said second light guide are each made of a transparent medium.
15. The surface reading device of claim 1 , wherein said target-surface is a platen on which a document to be imaged is placed.
16. A surface reading device for reading an image on a target-surface, comprising: a light source coplanar with an optical sensor, said light source and optical sensor being on a common printed circuit substrate; a first light-path guiding mechanism that guides light from the light source to the target surface; a second light-path guiding mechanism that guides reflected light from the target surface to the optical sensor, and provides the optical sensor an erect image of the image on the target-surface.
17. The surface reading device of claim 16 , wherein the second light-path guiding mechanism includes: a single reflector that redirects the reflected light from the target surface directly toward the optical sensor.
18. The surface reading device of claim 17 , wherein the second light-path guiding mechanism includes a series of lenses in the optical path from the single reflector to the optical sensor, said series of lenses converging the light toward the optical sensor and providing the erect image of the image on the target-surface.
19. The surface reading device of claim 17 , wherein said series of lenses are four lenses.
20. The surface reading device of claim 17 , wherein the second-light guiding mechanism includes a refraction index distribution lens in the optical path from the single reflector to optical sensor, said refraction index distribution lens providing the erect image of the image on the target-surface.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
January 19, 2012
November 5, 2013
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